Roadway and apparatus for



H. MAXIM.

ROADWAY AND APPARATUS FOR ITS MANUFACTURE..

APPLICATION FIL'ED 001.6119115.

Patented Aug. 12, 1919r 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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H. MAXIM.

ROADWAY AND'APPARATUS FOR ITS MANUFACTURE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT-6.1916.`

Patented Aug. 12, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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HUDSON MAXIM, OF HOPATCONG BOROUGH, NEW JERSEY.

ROADWAY AND APPARATUS FOR ITS MANUFAGTURE,

Application filed October 6, 1916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUDSON MAXm, a

resident of the borough of I-Iopatcong,

species of asphalt road made by the use of crushed stone and asphalt or heavy asphalt oil.

In carrying out the invention I lay two or more parallel concrete runways for the wheels of vehicles, each having a suitable width-say about two feet or thereaboutto receive the maximum tread and wear of travel. The spaces between and outside of the runways may be filled with any suitable material, such as telford, macadam or field stone or other stone with a suitable top dressin For tIie reason that nearly all of the wear will be upon the concrete runways, the spaces between and outside of the runways need not be filled with so expensive and durable material as though the road were to be constructed without the runways.

Heretofore, when concrete runways or narrow strips of concrete have been laid longitudinally in roadways, the edges of the concrete have been rapidly chipped olf and the concrete disintegrated by the edge or shoulder wear, for the reason that the road material fadjacent or next to the concrete, being of inferior or softer material, wears away and leaves the edges of the runways lifted above the worn portions of the road. Furthermore, even in cases where the travel has not been such that the edge of the cement has been chipped off or worn away, the guttering or wear has often been such as to leave the edge or shoulder of portions of the concrete so considerablyv lifted above the adjacent material as to make turning out of vehicles diflicult, and also endangering the ripping ofi' of tires of automobiles. I obviate this difiiculty by a line or wall of stone,

Specication of Letters Patent.

Serial No. 124.016.

such, for example, as common field stone, cobbles, or broken stone, along each edge of the concrete runways before the concrete 1s putdown, so that when the concrete is laid the line of stones acts to hold the concrete in place, but allows the concrete to pass suiciently between the stones to secure them and hold them firmly. in position after the cement has hardened. l. f

I have found that when employing stones of irregular shape for-theconstruction of these lines or walls along'the edges of the concrete or cement runways for the protection of the runways, it is better to lay the stones in such wise that their upper surfaces next to the edges of the runways shall be higher than their upper surfaces lying farther away from the runways, so that the lines or walls of stone thus laid shall each incline or slant downward somewhat from the edge or shoulder of the runway against which it is laid, with the high or top line of the walls about one inch below the upper surface of the runways to receive any usual filling material to complete the roadway.

This construction causes the pressure upon the stones under the tread of vehicles when off the runways to be exerted upon the stones in the direction of or toward the runways, instead of from them, that is to say, the stones under the tread of vehicles tend to be pressed in the direction of or laterally toward the runways, whereas if the stones were irregularly laid so that some of them would have their depressed upper surface next to the runways, the pressure under the tread of vehicles would tend to force the stones thus laid away from the edges of the runways.

Furthermore, I have found that it is better for lling Vthe spaces between the runways and outside the runways and between them and the outer edges of'the'road, to employ stones averaging greater diameter or height than the height of the runways, the stones of the greatest diameter being placed in the center or centers of the road between the runways and at a short distance between the outer edge of the runways and the outside edges of the road, so that the upper surface ofthe roadway shall gradually be rounded upward or raised to a greater height at the center or centers of the spaces between the runways and at or about the Patented Aug. 12, 1919.

tioned to flow slightly under the tread of' vehicles in the direction of and upon the runways, thereby maintaining the surface coating of the runways, and prevents the plastic surfacing of the runways from being forced or worked off in a lateral direction. Furthermore, this form of construction causes the water from the rest of the roadway to flow upon the runways and causes each of the runways to act to drain water from the surface of the roadway. Suitable lateral drains are provided in low sections of the road to prevent the accumulation of water upon the runways in such places.

In the construction of these roads in many sections of the country where cobbles or field stone are not available in sufficient quantities of the right dimensions, the stones for the protection of the edges of the runways will necessarily have to be blasted from ledge-rock, and stones so blasted are nearly always of such wedge-shaped, inclined or angular contour as will admirably adapt them to the purpose described.

After the concrete runways have been laid, additional concrete or grout or cement and sand miXed sufficiently soft to pour and fiow well, may be poured on and into the wall or line of stone along theedges of the cement runways.

lVhen the roadway has been Completed, I give the entire roadway, including the runways, a coating of asphalt, asphalt oil or other suitable plastic material, which may be mixed with sand or finely pulverized stone, or other ingredient to form a wearing coat or surface protector of the entire roadway, the material being preferably made of such plastic consistency that under the tread of vehicles it will flow more or less, or yield under the tread of vehicles, so that the tread of the same will keep it spread out over the surface of the roadway and especially over the concrete runways.

I have found that the surfacing of such material will adhere very well to the concrete without any previous preparation of the concrete' for the purpose, but I prefer to apply to the immediate upper surface of the concrete runways a suitable adhesive or agglutina-ting agent, such as asphalt or heavy asphalt oil or other suitable material, before the concrete is quite hardened, so that the agglutinating agent or` adhesive material will penetrate slightly, and but slightly, the upper surface of the concrete. lVhen the concrete has been prepared in this manner, the plastic surface material above mentioned adheres much better and the entire surfa e of the concrete is kept better covered than when the concrete has received no such treatment.

By replacing at very low cost this surface coating, the cement receives no material wear, and a roadway so constructed will last indefinitely. Of course, an unprotected concrete surface will stand the wear of merely rubber automobile tires indefinitely, but the concrete itself yields somewhat to the harfgler tread of steel-tired vehicles and the shoes of draft horses. `When, however, the surface of the concrete is protected as above Cle-- scribed, such wear of the concrete is almost entirely obviated or prevented.

As the walls or lines of stone above referred to do not rise to the same altitude or height as the concrete runways, but fall short of that height by about an inch or so, it is necessary to use means for retaining the concrete in place while being laid above 'the height of the line or wall of stoneY ri'herefore, to accomplish the desired result and to facilitate the laying of the concrete runways, I preferably employ steel molds made of thin strips or sheets of steel about an eight of an inch in thickness and about two inches in width. |Ihe said strips of steel are provided with alining or elevating screws or supports, reaching down to and resting upon or penetrating the base of the roadway. These alining screws are preferably set about three feet apart, so that very accurate and nice adjustment with respect to height may be made of the molds or steel strips. Also, connected with the steel strijs are suitable supports such as loops or eyelets, preferably about from four to six inches apart, for holding suitable steel rods or large wire nails or spikes passed through them. These rods or spikes are preferably driven down into the base of the roadwaj,rv and thereby prevent lateral movement or shifting of the steel molds or strips, but more firmly to secure the molds against any lateral shifting or movement, steel stripe; as distance pieces, stretchers or stays are eniployed with a notch or cut to pass around the spikes or rods, which serve firmly to hold the molds against any lateral shifting whatsoever, and may be quickly removed at any time for the purpose of streaking or apply- ,ing a surface coating to the concrete while it;

is being laid.

The molds are preferably placed in position before the lines or walls of stone are laid and the rods or nails serve to prevent the stones forming the line or wall from being laid too far under the cement runways, the inner edge of the wall preferably being laid substantially in line with the outer edge of the concrete runways, but the spaces between the rods or spikes permit of free passage of the concrete into the spaces between the stones constituting the walls for the purpose described.

After the concrete runways have been laid and surfaced, the molds are removed and the.

rods or nails are withdrawn, to be re-used in the neXt position. After this is done, the surface coating of an inch or more of finely crushed stone, with asphalt oil or other agglutinating agent, is applied as a top dressing or surfacing to the spaces between the runways, the edges of the same being brought flush with the edges of the runways, and as already described, the central portion being somewhat higher than the portions adjacent to the edgss of the runways, so that, under the tread of the wheels of vehicles passing over the spaces between and outside the runways, any material displaced near the edge of the runways will automatically become more or less replaced by more material from the higher portions, but the material forming the road and between the runways and outside of the runways cannot be deeply grooved or gutted near the edges'of the runways on account of the walls or lines of stone already mentioned, so that the edges or shoulders of the runways are thereby prevented from being greatly chipped or worn away, and are also prevented from exposing a sufficient amount of lateral surface or height to interfere with the passage of vehicle tires over them while turning out for the passage of other vehicles.

The concrete runways are preferably reinforced by three or more wires embedded in them and running through them longitudinally and drawn taut before the laying of the concrete. To facilitate the drawing taut of the said reinforcing wires, a suitable anchor is preferably employed attached to the earth at asuitable distance in advance of construction and provided with means for drawing the wires taut, either separately or all together, and to any degree of tightness which may be required.

A detailed description of the invention will now be given, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specication:

Figure 1 is a cross sectional elevation of the improved roadway; and

Fig. 2 is a plan view ofthe same.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross section of one of the concrete runways with lines or walls of stone in position and also showing the mold-strips in use.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a Portion o`f a pair of mold-strips with their stretching strips or stays in position. l

Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan of a portion of one of the mold-strips; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional detail of a form of stone that may be employed in mak-A ing the line or wall of stone along the edges or shoulders of the runways.

The improved roadway consists of two or more parallel concrete runways, A, a central portion B, and side portions C, which in the case of a worn-out roadway may be laid directly onto the original surface with but slight previous treatment.

Each of the runways, A, Figs. 1 and 2, has a thickened central longitudinal portion e, extending a suitable depth into the base of the roadway, which serves to strengthen the runways and also prevents their shifting laterally. The runways will have expansion joints d, or lines of separation at proper distances apart filled with any suitable material such as melted asphalt poured in hot.

The runways are preferably reinforced by longitudinal wires a and b, stretched or drawn under strong tension and secured to suitable stakes or anchors e, and other wires f, may also be used, also drawn under tension diagonally across the width of the runways from stake to stake, or from outside wire to outside wire, as in Fig. 2. I may omit the stakes altogether, and attach the diagonal wires, f, to the side wires, a and Y).

The longitudinal edges of the runways are bounded by a line or wall of proper sized and shaped stones, F, with their high faces against the concrete and rising to within about one inch of the top surface of the finished runways, as seen in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 6.

These lines or walls of stone are prefer ably laid before the concrete forming the runways is laid, so that the walls of stone not only serve as a boundary line confining and holding the moist concrete in place, but become an integral part of the finished runways by reason of the cement owing yinto the spaces between the contiguous stones.

The space between the runways A, represented by the portion B, and the outer sides of the roadway, represented by the portions C, may be filled with any suitable materialV such as field stone or other stone, with the usual top dressing or surfacing over telford or macadam. It is preferred, however, to lill these spaces with gradually increasing sizes of stone, H, rising to a crown in the center of the central portion B, and also to a crown in each of the outside portions C, with a suitable filling material or top dressing, so that in the natural wear of these portions the tendency will be to move the material toward the edges of the runways for service in preserving the juncture of the ordinary portions of the roadway with the concretei against rutting.

The completed roadway may then have a top surface coating G, of asphalt or asphalt oil or other suitable material mixed with a proper amount of sharp sand or other ingre dient or material.

In laying the concrete runways I emplo steel longitudinal molding strips, D, whici are held temporarily in place by a number of suitably disposed spikes or stakes Z, driven down into the base of the roadway thereby to hold the mold strips firmly in place and against longitudinal displacement while laying the concrete and streaking its top surface. In addition to the spikes Z, I employ at suitable intervals adjusting screws c', with spiked ends y', for driving down into the base of the roadway; the threaded portions engaging nuts Zt, by which the height or level of the mold-strips may be adjusted to a nicety and the level of the runways made to conform accurately to the roadway survey.

The nuts la, are held in suitable bearings g, riveted to the strips D, and the spikes Z, are held by perforated ears Za, also riveted to the strips.

The mold-strips D, are also held in parallel position adefinite distance apart by stretcher strips or distance strips E, slotted near their outer ends and under the heads to embrace a pair of oppositely disposed spikes Z, for easy removal when the top surface of the concrete is being streaked in the finishing operation.

The mold strips D, will be sufficiently flexible to be curved laterally to conform to the necessary curves of the runways.

Wrhat is claimed is:

l. In a roadway having a plurality concrete runways for vehicles, a line or wall of stone such as cobbles, laid along the edges of the runways, the upper surface of the stones being lower than the upper surface of the runways, as and for the purpose described.

2. In a roadway a plurality concrete runways for vehicles, the edges of each of the runways being protected by a line or wall of Cobble or other stones with average upper surface below the surface of the runways, the cobbles being cemented to and made to form an integral part of the runways.

3. A roadway having a plurality concrete runways for vehicles, the sides of the runways consisting of cobble or other stones cemented together and to the runways, forming an integral part of the runways, the upper surface of the cobbles being below the upper surface of the runways, and the upper surface of the stones being covered with other material than concrete, to a height flush with or above the surface of the runways.

4. In a roadway having a plurality reinforced concrete runways, cobble. or other Copies of this patent may be obtained for stones laid along the edges of the runways to protect the runways, the reinforcement in the runways being under tension.

5. A roadway having a plurality concrete runways, the portion of the roadway between the runways being of other material than concrete and the upper surface of the intervening material also being higher than that of the Concrete runways and the roadway covered or surfaced with a plastic or yielding material or coating adapted to spread, yield or iow more or less under the tread of traiic, whereby the coating or the surfacing of the concrete runways is constantly renewed from the other surfaces of the roadway.

G. In a roadway having a plurality concrete runways means for supplying by the tread of traffic a plastic surfacing material to the concrete runways from other portions of' the roadway.

7. A roadway having a plurality concrete runways and lines or walls of stone laid along the edges of the runways for the protection of the runways, the stones forming the lines or walls being tapered or wedgeshaped, the larger ends of the stones being placed at the edges of the runways, so that the outer edges of the walls taper or slant downward away from the runways.

8. A roadway having a plurality concrete runways with lines or walls of stone laid along the edges of the runways for the protection of the runways, the inner edges of the walls next to the runways being higher than the outer edges of the walls. Y

9. A roadway having a plurality concrete runways with stones next to the edges of the runways laid with their upper surface below the surfaces of the runways and the main body of the stones between the runways being laid with their upper surfaces above the surface of the runways.

l0. A roadway having a plurality concrete runways and lines or walls of stone laid along the edges of the runways for the protection of the runways, and the spaces between the said walls being filled with stones of a greater diameter than the height of the walls.

1l. A roadway havinga plurality concrete runways, with the edges of the runways protected by lines or walls of stones of a height approximating the height of the runways, with the layers of stone outside of the said walls' having a greater height than that of the runways.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HUDSON MAXIM. -Witnesses:

AUGUSTUS S. BRYANT, LrLrAN MAXIM.

ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

